A new danger threatens the peace of a community. One brave hero takes it upon themselves to eliminate the threat and restore happiness among their people and become the master of themselves. Is this Jaws, Jurassic park, Godzilla, The Lion King, Spiderman, Harry Potter, or Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon poem published in the eighth and 11th century? The truth is it is all of them. The heroes journey is the common template used by a broad category of tales that involve a protagonist hero who goes on an adventure, overcomes an ordeal, and comes back home rewarded and changed. Coraline, a 2009 American 3D stop motion dark fantasy horror film produced by Laika, follows much of the same template created almost 11 centuries ago. All stages of the heroes journey can be picked out of Coraline beginning with the ordinary world. The ordinary world for Coraline is an extremely bland place. It consists of two workaholic parents, detached from their daughter, an ancient home filled with dull furniture and washed out colors, and strange new neighbors. “ I almost fell down a well yesterday mom,” Coraline says. “uh-huh,” her mom replied. “I could have died,” Coraline states hoping for an actual response from her mother. “Thats nice, …show more content…
Her call was a hand made doll made by “the other mother” that was able to spy on her life through its eyes and see she was unhappy. “The other mother” then lured her in with a jumping mouse, something that was new and vibrant in Coraline's life. At first Coraline refuses the call to adventure by telling herself that the other world is just a dream, which is understandable considering that it is nearly an inconceivable thought to even dream up, a whole other world that is the exact same only better in every way, plus she only visits there at night. But she then accepts her call to adventure once she realizes her parents have been stolen and the other world is
Tens of thousands of stories fit into the hero’s journey archetype created by Christopher Volger. Out of these, a large number of them are stories with remakes that share notable resemblances to their heroes’ journeys. However, none of these quite match those very strong similarities found between Homer’s The Odyssey and Joel Coens ’s O
In “Creating the Myth,” Linda Seger outlines the essential aspects that make up the hero myth, and why movies that follow this outline are generally successful. In her analysis, she begins with the idea that every hero myth revolves around a hero who is called upon to accomplish a feat that nobody else in the story is able to do. The hero’s journey begins with an unlikely person being called upon to serve a purpose greater than themselves. Along their journey, the hero is influenced by several archetypical characters that either help the hero, or try to deter the hero from accomplishing their task. The hero’s journey ends when they have accomplished their task, and in doing so, become a greater person than what they were in the beginning. A film that found tremendous success by following this outline was “Kung Fu Panda.”
The human need to be relatable is unquenchable. We love to be able to see parts of ourselves in others, and to be able to feel like our idols are not untouchable. The Hero’s Journey format is one that can be found in almost any story, even in real life. Overall, it is the perfect recipe for keeping readers engrossed. Another place the journey has shown up is in Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and Odyssey by Homer. These two stories—one a biography, the other, an epic poem—are so effective in their storytelling, it is easy to see how authors today continue to use the same method to make stories that grab the readers’ attention. What makes them most alike, however, is the emotions and thoughts they have the power to provoke.
People do not have to fly to be hero, it takes much more. Many heroes of today are shown to have supernatural powers that makes them acquire amazing abilities, flying, super strength, skills to manifest anything, the list goes on. Our heroes in the present time are perceived by the audiences' mindset to have special powers but there are times where being a hero does not need to have all the extra tricks. Thomas, a character in The Maze Runner is thrown unconsciously with no memory into a place of the unknown called the Glades, consisting of only teenagers inhabiting the area. He would soon find out the whole place is bordered by a big wall that closes by night and day to protect them from the maze that are filled with demonic machines that will kill on sight. This begins his adventure, eager to learn what is out there and willing to become a maze runner which is equivalent to being a tribute for the greater good in their little homemade society. Having powers might help to become a hero, but in the dystopian novel The Maze Runner, by James Dashner, his protagonist Thomas demonstrates the hero journey in a more natural way by crossing the threshold, meeting a mentor, and lastly having tests, allies and enemies.
My research for this report began when I read Joseph Campbell's article "Departure" in which he discusses folklore; he outlines the course of action that a hero takes in an adventure. He describes the five steps the hero takes as "the call to adventure, the refusal of the adventure, use of supernatural aid, crossing of the first threshold, and the belly of the whale." After reading Campbell's criteria of an adventure, I decided to choose a movie and see how it ties into Campbell's outline of an adventure. The movie I chose was Willow and in this report I will note how it complies with Campbell's outline.
Under the sea, in an idyllic and beautiful garden, stands a statue of a young man cut out of cold stone – for the Little Mermaid who knows nothing but the sea, the statue stands as an emblem of the mysterious over-world, a stimulus for imagination and sexual desire, an incentive for expansion of experience, and most predominately, an indication that something great and all-encompassing is missing from her existence. Traces of curiosity and a vague indication of the complexities of adult desires mark the child mermaid; in such a stage of development, the statue will suffice. However, as the Little Mermaid reaches puberty, the statue must allegorically come alive in order to parallel the manifestation of her new-found adult desires – the statue must become a prince in his world of adulthood above the sea. Thus, powered by an insistent and ambiguous longing for self-completion, the Little Mermaid embarks on a journey of self-discovery, and, to her ultimate misfortune, prematurely abandons her child-like self as sexual lust and the lust for an adult life takes hold of her.
Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) and his other film Jurassic Park (1993) both contain a major theme of what makes a successful hero in society. In Jaws, police chief Martin Brody must successfully eliminate the threat of a Great White Shark from attacking Amity Island. In Jurassic Park, billionaire John Hammond creates a theme park where cloned dinosaurs come alive, hoping that his ideal resort becomes a major success. Through the use of film style elements, such as editing and mise-en scene, Spielberg develops Brody’s character as a person who must learn from his past mistakes in order to become a successful hero while Spielberg creates Hammond’s character as a man who only sees himself as a hero of science and technology without realizing his attempted control over nature is what leads him to his ultimate failure.
This story mainly takes place in another world that looks exactly the same as Coraline’s home. Although it looks the same, Coraline feels much different. The love and happiness from her real home is missing. This other world is not a bright and happy place like Coraline expected. It is gray and boring.
The Hero’s Journey is an ancient archetype that we find throughout our modern life and also, in the world of literature.Whether metaphorical or real, the journey that a character goes on shows not only the incredible transformation of the hero but it also gives them their life meaning. It is the ultimate human experience and it reflects on every aspect of life. Take Logan, also known as Wolverine, from the X-Men movie as an example. His adventure starts with “The Call,” which is the first step of the Hero’s Journey. This step happens due to the realization of imbalance and injustice that the character has in their life. Logan steps into the first stage of the pattern but is hesitant to start his adventure because he does not know what and
“The other mother has encased in glass marbles” the souls of the ghost children and are hidden throughout her world (Parsons, Sewers, and McInally 379). Coraline’s exploring game of hide-and-go-seek has some frightening encounters, especially one she has with her other father. According to Parsons, Sewers, and McInally, for Coraline “to complete her journey” she must face her other father (381). “The other mother knowingly gives Coraline the key [from her mouth] needed to open the flat in which her other father has been imprisoned in the basement” (Parsons, Sewers, and McInally 381). When Coraline encounters her other father in the basement he is unrecognizable. Coraline’s other father is just mere creation by the other mother and she makes him try and hurt Coraline “so that [Coraline] can never finish the game and [the other mother] will win” (Gaiman 110). She is able to escape this encounter and finds all of the marbles that the ghost children are encased in. Now all Coraline has to find are her real parents.
The approach to the hero’s journey in The Hunger Games, Star Wars, and A Wrinkle in Time has many similarities and variables. A few stages of comparison with the three books are during the call to adventure/refusal, the ordinary world, and crossing the threshold.
These are developed from Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With A Thousand Faces and they outline a pattern of narrative principles that describe the typical journey of the archetype called ‘The Hero’ in a film.
Throughout literature, there is a prevalent model found in various narratives that ensures its success. This archetype, called the “journey of the hero,” discovered by Joseph Campbell, serves as a guideline of three stages for authors to manipulate to their own desire. The departure, the initiation, and the return essentially create the same storyline, yet these formats can be molded into unique and refreshing works of art. Aspects of the “journey of the hero” in the movie Shrek 2 are highlighted as the main hero, Shrek, and his wife Princess Fiona depart from their accustomed residence, the swamp, rediscover the meaning of true love through peril, and return with Shrek being able to balance his identity between an ogre and royalty.
The departure stage of the journey includes the call to adventure, a mentor or aid, and the belly of the whale. The call to adventure serves as an important stage because this is where the adventure starts. Lawson studied Joseph Campbell’s hero journey and wrote an article about it. Lawson delivers the idea that “the hero’s journey is set in motion by means of a supernatural event that casts the innocent into a strange and unfa...
A person can be a hero for saving the life of one or of millions. Heroes are not only real people, but they are also fantasy figures. Children are extremely interested with legendary and fantasy figures because they take on such tasks as: difficult journeys, challenges with dragons, discovering lost treasure, and changing the nature of the world through their singular acts of courage and selflessness. They also endure much resistance, hardship, and danger. Often the hero learns valuable lessons about survival and self-reliance. Not only do heroes teach valuable lessons they give a child a sense of belonging. To a child, a hero is an invincible person who will change the world.